A libertarian leaning, common preference seeking, pro-science, pro-critical rationalism, humanist blog, which is mainly, but by no means exclusively, about home educating in the UK.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

A Good Idea Gains Momentum

Latest from the US: Chris reports, via Doc, that the boycott of the homeschoolblogger (with it's connections to child beaters the Pearls), has enlisted the support of at least 100 other bloggers.

Joanne at the Happy Homeschooler, in also making a stand, seems to offer a hint of an explanation as to why it has been difficult for US home schoolers to object to the ideas of the child beating proponents to date.

"As 'in the trenches' as I am in trying to counter the culture of adversity, I have attended homeschool conferences and passively accepted the pamphlets, the books, the flyers and the propaganda that advice abuse."

But great news: it looks as if the momentum behind the idea that child beating is unacceptable is gathering and that it should therefore become increasingly easy for US homeschoolers to denounce corporal punishment, even in those awkward moments when one normally feels that one should be doing one's utmost to fit in with the group, given that home schoolers can be few and far between.

7 comments:

Anonymous
said...

A very good point raised on Doc's site is about Amazon. If people complained in enough numbers to Amazon, and asked them to consider exactly what they are supporting, perhaps they would reconsider advertising and selling books that recommend child abuse as a form of discipline?

Absolutely right, of course!! Good commercial sense is undoubtedly their only concern. I don't know why I thought there might be a bit of doubt over that!!

However, out of curiosity I asked them for their position, which is as follows:

"As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our web site represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics.

Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we will continue to make controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they are prohibited by law. We also allow readers, authors, and publishers to express their views freely about these titles and other products we offer on our web site. However, Amazon.com does not endorse any opinions expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.

We value all feedback from our customers, and I thank you again for taking the time to send us your comments about this issue. We hope you will allow us to continue to serve you."

And, of course, they are good about allowing a forum for public criticism.

Unfortunately, I don't think smacking *is* illegal in the UK, unless something has happened in the last few years and I missed it! ...Yep, have found link from 2001.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1644120.stmVery sad indeed. Atleast, important bodies such as the NSPCC thinks this is wrong. Will get there in the end, perhaps.